For most internet marketers, businesses and entrepreneurs, being able to work at home, or in you own time is priceless.
No more 9-5 grind and no more death race to work.
In fact some of you might feel too comfortable in this bubble.
It was easy to build a site and blast thousands of backlink through software and outsourcers and then say, “Job done”.
The clicks role in and you have it made. Wrong!
The world is changing and you need to change with it or die.
Businesses built on mono-models are doomed to fail the longevity test without diversification.
This is where the power of social promotion comes in.
It’s time to embrace this source of link love whether you like it or not and here’s why:
1. Diversity Of Traffic
This is like having a wide portfolio of shares or income streams.
Business that rely on single massive income streams are at huge risk.
It’s the simple Pareto 80:20 rule
80% of your traffic from one source (Google) is suicide.
So obsessed were we with rankings to drive traffic that 80% of internet business engaged in what some might call black hat to grey hat to white hat.
Google has learnt fast and you might have suffered painfully.
Panda, penguin and the future maybe duck, shark or whatever silly name they come up with.
We cry, scream and moan about unfairness, but this is Google’s house, Google’s business and you are nothing to them.
Remember ‘Big boy’s games, big boy’s rules’.
You are NOT essential for them to profit. But 80% of business and web owners are too afraid to look elsewhere.
The Simple Fact:
Google is a machine with its algorithm. Machines do not make you money people do
A good example is a company that was in the UK called Woolworths.
Basically it used to sell everything in the gifts and toys business when it started. Everyone remembers it as a kid for the Pick and Mix sweets.
But its business model was based on doing 80% of its profits at Christmas.
It was only a matter of time and sure enough in the latest recession it went op.
2. Human Promotion & Real People
Okay let’s go back to real people.
How many real people know you, your site and your business?
Come on be honest.
Most will only come across you maybe in the search listings.
They are not actively looking for you John Doe or ‘John Doe Does.com’
That is what branding is all about.
Waiting for people to find you in the listings is risky and hugely variable.
But if people, who are ultimately future customers seek you out that is massive.
Secondly using social links such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit and many more gives you a voice and a personality. Real people like that.
If you can speak to them and provide quality content/services that speaks to them, solves real problems and that they can communicate with regularly then you will succeed.
Finally you have a massive ‘viral’ component.
Get someone to like you through Facebook, you will appear in the feeds of all their friends and if they visit all their friends and so on.
It is instant and huge distribution of content and love.
Imagine if such distribution was like a ‘Wow, found this and you’ve just got to have a look’.
That is a personal recommendation and the most powerful link you can ever have.
That is why Google seems to be counting social links now.
To coin and twist a phrase from ‘The Usual Suspects’:
Keaton always said, “I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of him.”
Well Google believes in God, and the only thing that scares Google is Facebook
3. Business Security
Business will always be risk. That’s why you make money.
It’s a simple fact that the riskier the business the more money you usually. You have to accept that fact and that there will be bumps and obstacles on the way.
But if you can diversify your online income by diversifying your traffic you can smooth the bumps.
The speed with which social networking and promotion has develop means you can rapidly build a list, build a well liked fan page and draw visitors to your site, your brand and engage them to turn them into customers you can come back to.